USDA Press Release No. 0081.10
Contact: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Communications Jim Brownlee 202-720-4623 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs Gina Talamona 202-514-2007
USDA AND DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WORKSHOPS TO EXPLORE COMPETITION AND REGULATORY ISSUES IN THE AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY TO BEGIN MARCH 12 IN IOWAInitial Workshop to be Held in Ankeny, Iowa, at Des Moines Area Community College, FFA Enrichment Center
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2010 - The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the agenda and panelists for the first joint public workshop, which will be held on March 12, 2010, in Ankeny, Iowa, to explore competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. The workshop will be held at the Des Moines Area Community College's FFA Enrichment Center.
The workshops, which were first announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Eric Holder on Aug. 5, 2009, are the first joint USDA/Department of Justice workshops ever to be held to discuss competition and regulatory issues in the agriculture industry. The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector. Attendance at the workshops is free and open to the public. The general public and media interested in attending the initial workshop should register at https://go.dmacc.edu/ffa/agworkshop.

Vilsack and the Department of Justice’s Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Christine Varney will participate in the workshop and will be joined by Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. They will participate in a roundtable discussion with presentations on current issues affecting farmers. Two panels focusing on the competitive dynamics in the seed industry and trends in contracting, transparency and buyer power will follow. The first day of the workshops will end with an enforcer roundtable and public testimony.

The workshop schedule follows:

Opening Remarks (9:00 a.m. CST – 9:15 a.m. CST)

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, U.S. Department of Justice

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